Izuku went to lean up against the wall as the rest of the participants began to pour in after them through the corridor that marked the end of the race.
He really needed a breather after beating the Mines had put both him and Venom through.
Mina on the other hand, once she had made sure he was fine by the wall of the stadium, went straight over towards the pink-haired girl, presumably to give her a piece of her mind.
Izuku did not get to hear what they said to each other, given the distance, but the girl met Mina with a smile that did not drop as the pink-haired girl seemed to be on the verge of screaming at her.
Izuku looked away, feeling both happy, confused, and bothered.
Happy someone cared enough about him to go confront someone who had literarily knocked him into the ground, confused why in the world she hated him so much and bothered that Mina went to such lengths to help him out.
It was as he stood there, and his senses fully returned, that he realized that her carrying him that last bit hadn't just been witnessed by everyone here, but had also just been recorded and shown on national TV.
He buried his scarlet face in his hands, as a sense of shame began to fill him.
Well, he had managed to look like a complete idiot on TV. And more to the point, the 4th place was hollow, given he hadn't earned it himself. Any pro watching would know that if it hadn't been for Mina, he'd have fallen way further down on the rankings.
Not to mention that Mina had given up any hope of ranking as number 1 to go help him out. Meaning not only had he failed on his own, but his failure had also been detrimental to one of his friends.
It took quite a while before the rest of the classes finally finished the race.
He hadn't realized how far ahead the top was in front of everyone else, but it took almost 15 minutes after they went through, before the final student finally reached the goal.
Truth be told, Izuku would have preferred to rest with his shame for even longer, but as Midnight called out that it part 1 was over, he forced himself to put down his hands and look over towards the rest of the students.
Amazingly enough, Mina was still talking to the pink haired girl, who still wore the same unnaturally regular smile she had when the conversation started.
Mina, on the other hand, was so pissed that her face's regular soft pink color had been replaced by an angry burgundy-purple, and she had decided that screaming was a valid response after all.
As he was walking over towards the other students, Mina essentially threw up her hands and did the same. Her expression was a thundercloud of seething, frustrated anger, which to Izuku seemed to be completely out of place of the normally cheerful girl.
He wondered what the hell she had said to Mina to make her this upset.
"She seems to have a talent for pissing people off, this bitch."
"Any idea why she hates us?"
"Don't look at us, clearly it is YOU she hates. After all, she called you Midori, not Venom."
Izuku stopped in his tracks, just behind where Uraraka was standing. The realization just hitting him.
That's right, she had called him Midori. The nickname Mina had given him.
When the hell had she picked up that? Had she overheard the two of them talking? No, Venom hadn't remembered seeing her. And given he had a photographic memory, that meant he hadn't come close to her before.
No, she had to have picked it up today, as he and Mina had been chatting. Had she been hovering behind them, just watching him menacingly, waiting for the moment to strike?
That still did not explain why the hell she hated him.
Izuku was still trying to figure out his newest enemy when Midnight finally Began to unveil the next part of the sports festival.
"The top 42 of this round will move on to the next stage!"
The results of who qualified as the top 42 flashed up on a holographic screen.
With a moment of bitterness for both his and Mina's lost shot at first place, Izuku saw the top spot of Uraraka, then the pink-haired girl, who's named he finally now knew.
Second place: Hatsume Mei.
Beneath her was Mina, then him. Then Todoroki, followed by Bakugou, followed by a girl with thorny green hair he did not know.
He glanced over the pics. It seemed most(maybe all?) of his class had made it.
That was good.
"AND NOW, THE NEW STAGE SHALL TRULY BEGIN! THE PRESS IS GONNA BE GIVING IT ALL THEY GOT, SO PUT IN ALL YOU HAVE!!!"
She gave another dramatic crack with her whip.
"NOW I KNOW WHAT THE NEXT COURSE WILL BE! DYING IN SUSPENSE? WELL THE NEXT EXCERSICE WILL BE…."
She made an overly dramatic motion with her arm towards the holographic bull board, where the pictures of the 42 passing students blinked out and were replaced by the words "Cavalry Battle".
A cavalry battle. Well. Izuku could not imagine any exercise where his own strength would be more limited.
Sure, he wouldn't be completely helpless, but the fact was that whether he was the rider or the base, he would not be able to use his strength fully without damaging any potential teammate.
Shit.
Midnight began explaining the rules, as an example picture of a basic cavalry team composed of Present Mic behind, 13 in front, and the two of them holding up All Might between them
"You students will be forming teams of 2 to four of your own choice, and get into a rider horse formation."
-You Japanese have the weirdest sports events.-
"The rules of engagement are the same as a regular one, with the goal being to snag your opponent's headbands, however, there is one change…"
"Each of you guys have been assigned a number depending on your placement in the race!"
"So, it's just a gathering of points like the entrance exam? Well, that's easy." Satou interjected.
"And the value of each team headband is dependent on it's member." Kirishima continued.
Midnight, no less than Aizawa did not like being interrupted, and a crack of her whip to the side made the students shut up immediately.
"SILENCE! I WAS GONNA EXPLAIN IT, SO SHUT UP ALREADY!"
She took a brief moment to compose herself before continuing.
"ANYWAY, Yes, the points are dependent on rank, so number 42 gets 5, number 41 gets 10, and so on until 2 gets 205."
Then she grinned a truly sadistic grin.
"OH, AND NUMBER ONE, GETS NO LESS THAN 10 MILLIONS POINTS, SO WHOEVER GETS THAT HEADBAND, PRETTY MUCH WINS BY DEFAULT!"
It happened maybe 4 seconds after Midnight had finished saying those words.
Everyone's attention turned towards Uraraka. Then the reality of the situation sunk in, and the atmosphere changed completely.
It was astonishing how quickly it changed.
It was wrong. So, so wrong. It was like a slap to the face. Before, everyone had been jovial, happy, neutral. No one had paid any attention to Uraraka.
Then, in the blink of an eye, they changed. Every single one of them. Some much more so than others, but they all changed. The eyes of everyone around them became cold, calculation, exclusive. Every single one of them turned on her in that instant, the moment they realized she would be the biggest target in this section.
He was back. Back to his middle school, back to every single time the class had turned on him to humiliate him.
Only this time, he was on the opposite end. He was part of the group who singled someone else out. It shouldn't happen here, it shouldn't happen at Yuei. Yuei was supposed to be better than this.
He felt sick. Truly, truly sick in a way he had never felt before.
He couldn't be like this. He had to be different than this.
He had to do something.
What he did next, he did out of impulse, because it was the only thing he could think to do, and it being the only thing he could think of, he grabbed the action with both hands.
"URARAKA, LET'S TEAM UP!"
The atmosphere broke like a string that had been cut, as everyone, from Midnight, to his fellow students, to the crowds turned to look at him.
He felt his cheeks go red, as the stares of thousands of people turned on him. He didn't care. In that single moment, the only thing that mattered to him in the whole world was to help out Uraraka. To give her a supporting hand. To help her now that she needed it.
The brown-haired girl turned towards him, wearing an expression that was a mixture between surprise and relief.
"Ah… OK!"
She gave him a thumbs up with a scarred hand and a nervous but genuine big smile.
"Let's do it!"
...
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